Shingling gauge



F. COLLINS AND D. D. MACCORMACK- SHINGLING GAUGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, um.

Patented Feb. 7 1922.

' ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHINGLING GAUGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

Application filed June 17, 1921. Serial No. 478,282.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANCIS COLLINS and DAVID D. MAOCORMICK, citizens of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shingling Gauges, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gauges used to aid a workman in properly locating shingles, particularly those manufactured from sheet material, such as so-called asphalt shingles, in rows or courses one. surface to be covered by the shingles.

- The chief objects of the invention are to provide a gauge of simple construction, adapted to be conveniently used, to be quickly adjusted and provide any desired exposure of the lower end portions of the courses of shingles; to ensure absolute parallelism of the courses; and to ensure absolute uniformity of the width of the spaces customarily left between the edges of .the shingles 'of-each course to provide for expansion and contraction.

Anotherobject is to provide a gauge including a flange strip or permanent portion,

which maybe of any desired length, and may be coiled andstored in small compass when not in use, and'quickly straightened out for use, and a temporary portion embodied in a wooden bar, which may be attached to the flange strip for use on a given job, and detached and discarded when the job is completed.

To these and other related ends the inven tion is embodied in the improvements which we will now proceed to describe and'claim'.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view,

showin a portion of a roof, shingles thereon, an a gauge embodying the invention. Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1, on a larger scale.

Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary perspective views, illustrating elements of the means for holding the gauge in various predetermined positions.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view, on the plane of line 7'-7 of Figure 1.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.-

' In the drawings 9" represents a portion-of a roof having a lower course of attached shingles s. The gauge of our invention 1s used after the lower course has been laid, and cooperates with th1s course in positionmg the next higher course, and with the next higher course in positioning another course,

and so on until the job is completed. In Figures 1 and 2, we show shingles s of a second course, and shingles s of a third course, it being understood that the shingles s have been positioned by the cooperation of the gauge with the shingles s of the first course and secured to the roof, and that the shingles s are being positioned by the cooperation of the gauge with the secured shingles s.

The gauge comprises an elongated straight-edged bar 12, preferably of wood, adapted to rest horizontally in a transversely inclined position on a roof, and adjustable clamping means projecting from the lower longitudinal edge of the bar for engagement with two or more shingles of a completed course, for example, two or more of the shingles s. The elongated bar 12 is provided at its higher edge portion with an elongated flange strip 13, adapted to cooperate with the higher edge of the bar in positioning a higher course of shingles, for example, the course composed of the shingles 5- The flange strip 13 is preferably composed of thin spring steel, and is normally for, storage, and to assume a straig t form.

for use.- The gauge also comprises a plurality of arms 14, preferably of brass, at

t'ached to the bar 12, and projecting from the lower edge thereof. o-Each arm 14 constitutes an element of adjustable means for engaging one of the shingles of'a previously fastened course, and each is provided with a longitudinal slot 15. The other elements of said means, in the embodiment here shown, are as follows: 16 represents a block or slide movable on the arm 14, and provided with square orifices 17 and 18 (Figure 4). With the orifice '18 is engaged the squared portion 19 of a screw 20, said screw being movable in the slot 15, and provided with a head 21, bearing on the inner side of the arm 14, and with a clamping wing nut 22, bearing on the outer' side of the'slide 16. When the nut is tightened, the slide is firmly secured to the arm 14. With the the lower end of the shingle s at the other end a head 27 The shoe is located under the arm 14, and is adapted to engage the under side of a shingle s. A spring 28 is interposed between the head 27 and the slide 16, and acts to normally hold the shoe 25 against the inner side of the arm 14. When the plunger 24 is forced inward by pressure of the operators thumb or finger on the head 27, the shoe 25 is separated from the arm 14, so that the lower end of an attached shingle, such as 8', may be interposed between the arm 14 and the shoe, the lowerend of the shingle bearing on the plunger portion 23. When pressure on the plunger is released, the spring 28 forces the shoe against the under side of the shingle, the latter being firmly clamped between the shoe and the arm, so that the bar 12 and flange strip 13 are firmly held at a predetermined distance from the lower end of the attached shingle. Thearm 14 may be graduated, as shown at 29, to cooperate with the lower end of the slide 16, in indicating the distance between the bar 12 and the lower end of the shingle s. The upper edge portion of the flange strip 13 is adapted to be inserted under the lower end portion of a loose shingle 8 as shown by Fi re 2.

he bar 12 is offset from the upper edge of the flange strip 13, so that it forms a stop for Said bar may be a strip of wood, or it may be composed of two or more strips placed end to end. Portions of the flange strip 13 and arms 14 are located under the bar 12, and are provided with nail holes or orifices adapted to receive fasteners, such as shingle nails, driven through said orifices into the bar 12, whereby the flange strip and the arms are independently attached to the bar 12. The nail holes in each arm 14 receive nails 31, se-

curing the arm to the bar 12. The nailholes in the flange strip 13 receive nails 32, securing the flange strip to the bar 12. The upper ends of the arms 14 are arranged flush with the higher edge face of the bar 12,

It will now be seen. that the bar 12, arms 14, and flange strip 13, connected as described, and engaged with shingles of an attached course, enable the shingles of another course to be accurately laid relatively to the shingles of the attached course. The projecting portion of the flange strip is referably provided with upwardly pro ecting spacing members 34, which are preferably circular studs, and are formed to provide, between the longitudinal edges of the shingles being laid, the usual spaces permitting expansion and contraction of the shingles.

The flange strip 13, the arms 14, and the parts carried by the arms, constitute permanent members of the gauge. The bar 12 constitutes a temporary or discardable member, which may be improy'ised from a strip or strips of wood, before commencing a shincoiled strip is released, it is straightened and rendered flat-sided by its own resilience.

The members of the gauge are preferably assembled by first securing the arms 13 to the bar 12 by the nails 31, and then securing the flange strip 13 to the bar 12 by the nails 32. When the job is completed, the bar 12 may be removed and discarded. It is feasible, therefore, to provide a gauge of any desired length, to dismantle the gauge and compactly store its chief elements, and to inexpensively reconstruct the gauge by attaching the arms and the flange strip to a wooden bar 12.

If the flange strip 13 is too long for a given roof, its surplus length may be disposed of by coiling it and tying the coil, the latter being at one end of the bar 12.

The studs 34 guide the operator in locat .ing thehigher edge of the flange strip 13 parallel with the higher edge of the bar. 12, when he is attaching the flange strip to the bar, said studs bearing against the higher edge of the bar 12, as shown by Figure 7.

We claim:

1. A shingling gauge comprising a straight edged bar, adapted to be located horizontally in a transversely inclined position on a roof; arms attached to and rojecting from the lower edge of the bar and clamps movable toward and from the under sides of said arms, and adapted to engage the under sides of shingles of a previously attached course; a. thin flange strip attached to the bar and projectin from the higher edge thereof, said strip'an, the-higher e geof the bar being adapted to position a higher course of shingles in a redetermined relation to the course with WhlCll the clamps are engaged, portions of said arms and flange strip being located under said bar and provided with orifices; and fasteners inserted in said orifices and separably and independently attaching the flange strip and arms to said bar, the flange strip being adapted to be coiled and confined for storage, when disconnected from said bar and arms.

2. A shingling gauge substantially as specified by claim 1, the projecting portion of said flange strip being provided with spacing .members adapted to determine the distance between the adjacent shingles in said higher course.

7 provided with 3. A. shingling gauge comprising a straight 1 3o edged bar, adapted to be located horizontally in a transversely inclined position on a roof, arms attached to and projecting from the lower edge of the bar, said arms being provided with longitudinal slots, slides movable on said arms, spring pressed plungers movable in said slides and slots, and provided with clamping shoes adapted to engage the under sides of shingles in an attached course, said plungers normally holding the shoes in their operative ositions and being manually movable to disp ace the shoes, means for adjustably securing the slides to the arms, and a thin flange strip attached to the bar and projecting from the higher edge thereof, said strip and the higher'edge of the bar being adapted to position a higher course of shingles in a predetermined relation to the course with which the clamps are engaged.

4. A shin ling gauge comprising an elonated thin ange strip, adapted to be coiled or storage, relatively short lateral arms provided with adjustable clamping means for engaging members of a fastened course of shingles, and a bar to which the flange strip and arms are detachably secured, the said flange strip being provided with a series of upwardly proj ectlng spacing members, adapted to determine the distance between the adjacent shingles of a higher course.

In testimony whereof we have aflixed our signatures.

FRANCIS COLLINS. DAVID D. MAOGORMACK. 

